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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291266">there is love in your body</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/royaltyjunk/pseuds/royaltyjunk'>royaltyjunk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Reconciliation, Romantic Friendship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:07:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,062</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291266</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/royaltyjunk/pseuds/royaltyjunk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Naesala didn’t know how to ask for forgiveness. Leanne gave it to him anyways. Written for Nagamas 2020.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leanne/Naesala (Fire Emblem)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>there is love in your body</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carriwitchets/gifts">Carriwitchets</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Author’s Ideas: What’s up carriwitchets!! I’m your gifter for Nagamas 2020! I know you said you’d prefer sweet over bittersweet but I promise you I did not mean to make it THIS bittersweet I just rhewuibrue my hand slipped?? I’m so sorry but there’s plenty of fluff too. I hope you enjoy it!! Merry Nagamas and happy holidays!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leaning back in his chair, Naesala let out a long breath and stared at the pile of parchment on his desk. Goddess… how much more work did he have to do? He had been working all morning, and yet had barely made a dent in the tower.</p>
<p>When he had agreed to come to Begnion to work as a diplomat, he hadn’t known that this would be part of the agreement. And yet here he was, hunched over pieces of parchment as though he had been doing this all his life—had trained for this all his life.</p>
<p>Both he and the little empress knew that that wasn’t true.</p>
<p>But that was something to think about later. For now, his focus was paperwork. Naesala leaned forward in his chair, sighing loudly as he stared down at the parchment in front of him. This one was a letter from… ah.</p>
<p>“Naeluchi, acting diplomat of Phoenicis,” Naesala read aloud under his breath. Tapping his fingers against his desk, he folded up the letter and slid it under the stack of letters waiting for his approval or his reply. Not yet—not now, at least.</p>
<p>That wound had yet to heal.</p>
<p>Momentary darkness made Naesala look up from his desk and out of the window in his study, a frown creasing his brow when he saw something—no, someone—soaring through the bright blue sky. They came closer, and Naesala’s study filled with darkness again for a fleeting moment before it filled with bright white sunlight yet again.</p>
<p>What looked like a speck floated down from the flying figure, coming closer and closer until Naesala could see it clearly. It was pure white feather, cutting through the scenery of the sky like a sword enveloped in sacred light magic.</p>
<p>For a moment, Naesala stared—unable to comprehend what he had seen. A feather, perhaps, was not as startling a sight as it could have been. But a white one? His eyes darted back to the soaring laguz in the sky, staring blankly until it clicked in his head.</p>
<p>A white feather. A heron.</p>
<p>He leapt to his feet and rushed to open the door to his balcony; when he walked outside and tilted his head to see the heron, he stared—entranced—as the figure circled the castle with outstretched wings.</p>
<p>It couldn’t be her, he tried to tell himself. Outlined against the sun, golden hair and white-feathered wings stretched out behind them, he didn’t know which one of the heron siblings could be. He hoped it wasn’t her. Was this retribution, he wondered in the back of his mind, for not answering Naeluchi’s letter?</p>
<p>Perhaps it was. But then the heron folded their wings, and the light came spilling in from behind their silhouette, and Naesala found that he could breathe. There was a tender smile on their lips that was too gentle to be Reyson, with hair that was too long and filled with too many curls to be Leanne.</p>
<p>“It’s been a while, Naesala.” Rafiel’s voice was all too familiar, even after all this time. Naesala took a deep breath and forced himself to look the heron in the eyes.</p>
<p>“Rafiel.”</p>
<p>Rafiel smiled at him, slowly tucking his wings against his back as his feet tapped against the metal railing of the balcony. “It has, hasn’t it?” A few white feathers fell onto the stone floor from the movement, and Rafiel glanced down. “Oh, my… I hope that doesn’t bother you too much.”</p>
<p>Naesala simply forced a slight smile, shaking his head. “It doesn’t. More importantly… what are you doing here?” The ceremony to awaken King Lorazieh had occurred, according to rumors flying around the castle of Begnion, over three weeks ago. There wasn’t any reason for Rafiel to be visiting him, especially when no one else had bothered to come and scold him for not appearing during this time.</p>
<p>“Ah, yes!” Rafiel smiled, dusting off his white robe as he leapt down from the railing and onto the balcony proper. “At noon, two days from now… it will be Tibarn’s coronation.”</p>
<p>Naesala swallowed harshly and averted his gaze. That was right. The decision had been made so long ago to uproaring support, it was a surprise Tibarn hadn’t been crowned already. Uproaring support from everyone, of course; that was, everyone except for the ravens, the citizens of Kilvas, his citizens of—</p>
<p>Letting out a nervous laugh, he glanced over at Rafiel and tried to push the thought to the back of his mind. “Really now? Well, tell him I said congratulations.”</p>
<p>“I believe you should tell him that yourself, in person.” Rafiel truly had been learning too much from Nailah; he wasn’t mincing his words anymore, like he used to do when they were young children and he had been afraid of hurting anyone’s feelings and hearing the discord in their hearts. “...Tibarn isn’t the one who wants you there.”</p>
<p>“Then who does?” That was a silly question. Naesala knew exactly who wanted him back there—back with the laguz he had spent his whole life betraying and allying with and betraying again.</p>
<p>Rafiel only had to look at him knowingly with that same gaze that Reyson and she looked at him with. They were all herons, of course, they were siblings. They shared the very same expression sometimes, gave people the same look when they interpreted someone’s heart, but her especially—that mysterious she that made his heart ache merely at the memory.</p>
<p>Turning his gaze downwards to his feet, Naesala let his gaze linger on the pile of white feathers that stood out against his red velvet carpet.</p>
<p>“She misses you more than words can express. Won’t you go see her?” Rafiel’s voice sounded as soft as Naesala was certain the white feathers felt.</p>
<p>“...One day,” he said, as a formality first. When Naesala looked up, staring into Rafiel’s eyes, he averted his gaze and pursed his lips. “One day.”</p>
<p>And perhaps, for the first time in his life, he might have truly meant something he had said.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~ / . / . / ~</p>
</div><p>“Your new king, Tibarn!”</p>
<p>King Lorazieh’s voice rang clear and loud through the forest, which filled with loud applause and cheering from the crowd of attending beorc and laguz. Queen Micaiah, Empress Sanaki, Queen Elincia, King Caineghis, King Kurthnaga, and Queen Nailah… they were all present for the crowning of a new king.</p>
<p>Once, Naesala had fit in with them.</p>
<p>But this was not the time to think those kinds of thoughts. Naesala raised his hands and clapped along. When Tibarn smiled as he waved out to the crowd, an unbidden yet similar smile crossed Naesala’s own lips.</p>
<p>“A wonderful ceremony,” Sanaki commented from where she stood beside Naesala. “Will you not come congratulate him with me afterwards?”</p>
<p>“Can’t say I was planning to,” Naesala remarked, trying to hold back the reluctance that was bubbling up in his heart. He knew how she could act sometimes, when certain ideas got into her head and stuck.</p>
<p>Sanaki frowned up at him. “...Naesala. You wear your heart on your sleeve for your closest allies. Even though I do not possess the same powers as my sister, I know well just how you feel. Accompany me. This is an order from the empress herself.”</p>
<p>Naesala let out a heavy sigh, holding a hand to his forehead. “...You’re certain you do not have her powers?” he asked, despite the fact that he knew well she did not. “I suppose I must. There’s no winning an argument with royalty.”</p>
<p>Sanaki’s only response was a slight huff and a satisfactory smile. Naesala turned his gaze away and looked back up at where Tibarn was standing atop the balcony of the castle of Serenes Forest. Reyson and Leanne stood behind their father, looking over the people in attendance. As for Rafiel…</p>
<p>Out of the corner of his eye, Naesala could see him—sitting right beside Queen Nailah, only a few people away. He was clapping pleasantly, but Naesala could feel it each time Rafiel glanced over at him. It was a heavy, laden gaze that weighed on his soul more than anything else at this coronation.</p>
<p>“I suppose it is time, then,” Sanaki said, giving Naesala an excuse to ignore Rafiel and look down at the young girl. “Sigrun.”</p>
<p>“Understood, Empress. I shall inform King Tibarn and King Lorazieh of your wish to meet.” Sigrun hurried away, and Naesala watched her retreating back for a moment before glancing back up at the castle balcony. The newly-crowned Tibarn and his companions had already disappeared. The weight pressing against Naesala’s alleviated, lifting until it was all gone.</p>
<p>“Naesala. I’m glad you could make it.”</p>
<p>And then it came crashing down on him again. Naesala pursed his lips and turned to look at Rafiel. “...Rafiel,” he said in a low voice. “Glad to be here.”</p>
<p>Surely Rafiel could sense that Naesala was lying through his teeth. Yet, he didn’t say anything. He simply smiled and turned to look at Empress Sanaki. “It has been a while, Empress. I hope you will not object if Queen Nailah and I accompany you into the castle to meet with Tibarn.”</p>
<p>“Of course not,” Sanaki responded pleasantly, her eyes shifting to look at Naesala for a moment. The stern look she gave him made her intentions clear. Naesala resisted the urge to sigh.</p>
<p>Since when had he needed to rely on a teenage empress to help him resolve his problems?</p>
<p>“Empress.” Sigrun’s voice reached their ears before they saw her, rounding the trees towards where they stood. “They will see you now.”</p>
<p>“Wonderful,” the young empress said, following Sigrun’s lead. Naesala took a deep breath and fell a step behind her, but ahead of both Rafiel and Nailah.</p>
<p>They met the group of bird laguz royalty—Tibarn, Reyson, Leanne, and King Lorazieh—in the castle entrance, almost as soon as they entered the building. Sigrun dropped to one knee, clearing her throat as she announced Sanaki’s arrival. “Your Highnesses. The Empress of Begnion.”</p>
<p>Tibarn turned to look, and smiled. “Ah, Sigrun. And there’s the little empress, too.”</p>
<p>Leanne’s eyes fell on Naesala almost immediately, and a grimace came over Reyson’s lips. Naesala, in turn, pursed his own lips and looked away as Sanaki and Tibarn exchanged pleasantries. He could feel both Reyson’s and Leanne’s gazes on him the whole time.</p>
<p>“How will Serenes Forest be maintained, now that it has been restored to its former glory?” Sanaki was asking when Naesala finally gathered up the courage to look up at the group of bird laguz.</p>
<p>“It certainly won’t be easy, especially with Rafiel planning to return to Hatari, but Reyson and Leanne will make do somehow,” Tibarn said, his arms crossed. That comment made Naesala turn to look back at Rafiel.</p>
<p>“You’ll be going back to Hatari?” Naesala asked, raising his eyebrows. Nobody else seemed to be surprised—only him.</p>
<p>(So this was what staying away for so long got him, did it?)</p>
<p>“Of course, we will be back soon,” Queen Nailah spoke up with a nod. “But for now, we wish to return to Hatari. My hope is that, one day, we will bring my people out of the desert.”</p>
<p>“...Well, then, I wish you the best,” Naesala said, managing to collect himself. “And I hope we will see each other again in the future. If you will excuse me, then.”</p>
<p>Dipping his head respectfully to all present, he turned and dashed out of the castle. As soon as he was outside, his wings snapped open and he launched himself into the air. He weaved in and out of the trees, avoiding the forest coming to life around him with newly-grown vermillion leaves and forcing himself to take a deep breath.</p>
<p>And then he heard the trees rustling behind him. Naesala gritted his teeth and turned to greet the person who had given chase, expecting anyone.</p>
<p>The sight he received still shocked him.</p>
<p>
  <i>“Naesala.”</i>
</p>
<p>“...Leanne.”</p>
<p><i>”Were you going to leave without properly greeting me?”</i> Perhaps, if any other person had said those words, they would have come out dripping with malice and hatred. But Leanne’s voice was feather-light, and just as bright as the sun shining through the forest’s leaves.</p>
<p>Grimacing, Naesala pursed his lips and turned his eyes away. He couldn’t find his voice in order to speak up and give an answer.</p>
<p>And, of course, because it was Leanne? He didn’t need to. <i>”Why do you hurt, Naesala? The war is over. They will forgive you now that they know the reason behind your actions.”</i></p>
<p>Somehow, Naesala found that hard to believe. “You’re too kind for your own good sometimes, Leanne.”</p>
<p><i>”That’s not true. You are too hard on yourself.”</i> Leanne reached out, resting her hand on his arm. The rush of wind generated by Leanne’s wings made Naesala remember exactly where they were. Gently touching her hand, he shook his head.</p>
<p>“Let’s not have this conversation here.” He knew better than to try and run from Leanne when she had an intention, clear as day. In those three or so years since her awakening, she had grown more and more accustomed to flying for longer durations. Despite that, Naesala couldn’t help worrying about her while she was in the air. There was that instinct, in the back of his mind, to ensure that she was alright.</p>
<p>Leading her down from the tops of the forest trees where he had been flying, Naesala landed at the roots of the trees and watched her to make sure that she had landed safely before he folded his wings and turned to look at her.</p>
<p>“Someday, you’re going to choose someone to trust who doesn’t deserve it,” Naesala muttered. He said that, yet… well. She had already done that by trusting in him.</p>
<p>
  <i>”That’s not true,”</i> she said. Naesala sighed and shook his head.</p>
<p>“Leanne. What did I say during the war about looking into my soul?”
</p>
<p>
  <i>”I’m sorry. But you know it’s because I worry about you. Why don’t you come see us…? We miss you. I miss you.”</i> There she went again. <i>”You know there’s no need to feel guilty for what you did, Naesala.”</i>
</p>
<p>Reaching out, she rested her hand on his forearm and looked up at him with such a sad look in her eyes that he was the one who had to look away in order to find it in his heart to give her an answer aloud. “I did it all for my kingdom. But now, I have no kingdom.”
</p>
<p>
  <i>”You have us.”</i> The certainty in her voice and the immediate answer to his statement made him pause—if only for a brief moment. Yet, in that brief moment, Leanne seemed to have found more to say. Or perhaps she had always wanted to say this, and had been waiting to finally see him so she could tell him these words? <i>”You have us. If not us, then you have me, Naesala.”</i>
</p>
<p>
Naesala pursed his lips, forcing himself to take a deep breath. There had always been something about Leanne that made his heart soften and his ability to say no disappear. Their years together in childhood, surrounded by blooming flowers and lush trees, had made him fond of her in a way that he himself had not yet comprehended.
</p>
<p>(Rather, in a way that Naesala had not wanted to comprehend—at least, not until now. Because here she was.)
</p>
<p>“...Tibarn and Reyson—” he started, knowing that Leanne could read exactly what was on his heart.
</p>
<p>
  <i>”They will understand.”</i> Naesala shot her a dubious look, and she smiled sweetly up at him. <i>”They will. I know how much you are hurting, Naesala… I know how much you loved your kingdom. I do not blame you.”</i>
</p>
<p>
He didn’t deserve her, or her forgiveness. And yet, he turned to look at her and his hand reached down to rest on hers. “...Alright.”
</p>
<p>As soon as he said it, his fate was sealed—although, for once, he didn’t seem to mind that. Leanne’s eyes lit up like the sun. <i>“I knew you would agree. I always believed in you.”</i>
</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t have,” Naesala murmured, but there was a similarly bright smile on his lips. He knew that, regardless of what he told her, she would have always believed in him. She never would have lost faith, because that was just the person she was.
</p>
<p>All around them, flowers bloomed and leaves unfolded. The fresh scent of lilies and pine trees filled the air, and Naesala closed his eyes. Taking in a deep breath, he felt it coursing through his veins—that beautiful, radiant, spilling-over-the-brim feeling of… everything. What was it? He didn’t know.
</p>
<p>When he opened his eyes and saw Leanne staring at him, the widest smile he’d ever seen on her lips, he smiled back. No. He knew what this feeling was, and she did as well.
</p>
<p>“...I’m sorry.” The words fell from his lips, unbidden yet true. Leanne shook her head.
</p>
<p>
    <i>“There’s no need to apologize, Naesala. But… I forgive you.”</i>
</p>
<p>Taking a step forward, he reached his hand out to cup her cheek gently. “...Thank you, Leanne.”
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Naesala…”</i> Her eyes were bright and glimmered with what Naesala could only describe as overflowing and pure joy—happiness did not even remotely convey how Leanne looked. After a moment, she threw her arms around him with a soft laugh. <i>”It’s not like you to be so serious.”</i>
</p>
<p>Naesala grunted, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from slipping to the ground. “That’s not true. You’ve seen me be serious plenty of times.”
</p>
<p>When Leanne giggled, the air filled with the sound of chirping birds—eager for the sunlight. Naesala held her tighter, and sighed softly when she rested her head on his shoulder. “...Thank you, Leanne. Truly.”
</p>
<p>
    <i>”It’s okay now, Naesala.”</i>
</p>
<p>Taking in a deep breath, he simply smiled and held her tight. A slight rush of wind made him glance over her shoulders, and he laughed under his breath when he felt her wings envelop them. Down, as soft and white as snow, filled his vision. Outside, the trees grew and the flowers bloomed. Dappled sunlight, filtered through tree leaves, cascaded down on them. He glanced at Leanne; when she met his gaze, he felt a smile—genuine and real—come across his lips.
</p>
<p>It was all okay now.
</p>
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